The following article was submitted by Gary Marbut President of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.

Dear MSSA Friends,

“Important race.  I believe that the most important race to be decided in Montana this election season is James (Jim) Brown’s run for the Montana Supreme Court Justice.  We REALLY need to get Jim elected.  Let me give you just one example of why this is so important.

We got HB 102 through the Legislature and signed into law.  HB 102 was to eliminate dangerous gun-free zones in Montana, (those places where only criminals and predators are armed).  As a part of this general strategy, HB 102 included campus carry, because university campuses in Montana have long been designated as predator safety zones by the Montana Board of Regents.

Then, the Regents sued to block the campus carry feature of HB 102.

They claimed that HB 102 intruded into their prerogative to “manage” the affairs of the university system as authorized in Article X of the Montana State Constitution.  Basically, the Regents claim to be some super entity not subject to any other part of the Constitution than the power given them in Article X.

The district court judge that handled this suit declared in a written order early in the case that he would not tolerate ANY discussion about the ‘Right to Keep or Bear Arms’ in either the Montana State Constitution or the U.S. Constitution – none! 

Right. 

Then, not surprisingly the district court judge ruled in favor of the Regents and declared the campus carry feature of HB 102 to unconstitutionally impair the power of the Regents.

What about the Montana Supreme Court? 

The Montana Supreme Court quickly rubber-stamped the district court decision, with no concern expressed about possible infringement of the ‘Right to Keep or Bear Arms.’ Right, the Montana Supreme Court should have reversed the district court, but didn’t. 

That’s because the Montana Supreme Court is the linchpin of the liberal establishment in Montana and chose to support their philosophical buddies on the Board of Regents.

So, we need all hands on deck to change the makeup of the Montana Supreme Court.  Please tell ALL of your voting friends that we highly recommend Jim Brown for the Montana Supreme Court Justice.”-Gary Marbut-President Montana Shooting Sports Association